By Vvon Engineering Team | Published | Updated
Yes, and it is done routinely, but the paperwork has to come before the design. Landlord consent, lease term against payback, who owns the array at exit, and the things to get in writing first.
Solar EPC & street lighting RFQ checklist (TXT)
Solar can be feasible on a rented or leased factory, provided that roof rights, structural suitability, utility eligibility and commercial terms align. Resolve those questions before committing to equipment.
This guide addresses site access, roof ownership and project responsibilities where the factory does not own the roof. Financial and contractual terms require project-specific professional review. Related reading: Who owns the plant in a third-party or ESCO solar model?.
Three things decide it: who has to consent, whether the remaining lease outlasts the recovery period, and who owns the plant when the tenant leaves. Settle those three and the rest is an ordinary rooftop project.
The array is a fixture on a building the tenant does not own, and the utility will want evidence of the applicant's right to the premises when the net metering file is submitted. A verbal agreement with the owner is not evidence, and it is not much use two years later when the building changes hands.
Get a written no-objection from the owner, and make it specific rather than general. It should name:
Record roof condition with the landlord before work, including leaks, corrosion and ponding. A dated, agreed photographic record helps distinguish existing defects from later installation or maintenance issues.
Compare the remaining enforceable occupancy period with the project's financial model and exit provisions. A lease shorter than the expected recovery period may still be workable if transfer, removal or compensation is agreed, but that value must not be assumed.
The test is not the nominal lease term. It is the term the tenant can actually enforce. A five year lease with a renewal option the landlord may grant is a five year lease. A five year lease with an option the tenant may exercise on stated terms is something else entirely, and it is worth negotiating that option at the same time as the solar consent, when the landlord is being asked for something and is inclined to be helpful.
Where the remaining term cannot be extended far enough, the answer is not to abandon the project. It is to change who owns it.
This is where multi-tenant industrial buildings come unstuck. The net metering agreement attaches to the electricity connection, and the credit follows the connection holder. If the meter is in the landlord's name and tenants are billed through a sub-meter, then the agreement and the credit sit with the landlord, and the tenant who paid for the plant needs a written pass-through that survives a change of building manager.
Confirm three things before design: whose name is on the connection, what the sanctioned load on that connection is, since the net metering guidelines cap capacity against it, and which distribution utility issued it. Then, and only then, fix a capacity.
Consult the relevant edition and the documents for the exact equipment and site: SREDA: Net Metering Guidelines and current application documents; IDCOL: renewable-energy lending terms.
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